Lin Wu boarded the high-speed train back to Qing City.
The seat by the window.
The girl was dressed in a simple white T-shirt, jeans, and white sneakers, resting her chin in one hand and holding her phone in the other, logging into her rarely used alternate account.
The phone screen was filled with foreign text she couldn't understand.
But her fingers flew swiftly across the phone's screen.
A lock of black hair fell along her cheek, and despite her bare face, she was strikingly beautiful.
"Beautiful girl, can I add your WeChat?" This was already the Nth person to ask Lin Wu for her WeChat.
Lin Wu shook her head and declined.
At four o'clock in the afternoon.
The high-speed train arrived at Lin City Town.
Lin Wu walked towards her uncle's house, following the memories of her predecessors.
As soon as she stepped into the town, she felt the unusual gazes of the people around her, and they whispered:
"Have you heard? She's the illegitimate daughter Lin Guixiang had with another man!"
"If her mom was the other woman, how can she have the face to come back?"
"..."
A normal person might have crumbled under these pointing fingers and whispers.
But who was Lin Wu?
Her expression unchanged, she approached one of the middle-aged women and hooked her lips into a slight smile, "Aunt Shen, what were you just saying? Could you please speak up?"
Lin Wu knew the woman who had spoken.
It was Shen Jinlan, the town's biggest gossip.
Many idle rumors spread from her.
Shen Jinlan didn't expect Lin Wu to confront her directly, her eyes dodging as she smiled and said, "Oh, it's nothing. Xiao Wu, you must have heard wrong, right?"
"So you dare to talk behind others' backs but can't admit to it?" Lin Wu raised her eyebrows slightly.
"There's nothing of the sort!"
Lin Wu smiled lightly, "Aunt Shen, then I wish that your daughter meets a scumbag in the future who deceives her into getting a fake marriage certificate, abandons her with a child after birth, and unknowingly falls victim to a homewrecker. She won't only have to raise the child alone but will also be judged by everyone as the other woman!"
"How can you speak like that?" The older lady's face turned white with anger.
Her daughter was a university student!
With a bright future ahead, how could she possibly be deceived by a scumbag!
Lin Wu's words were too harsh.
Lin Wu offered a faint smile, "I'm merely recounting my mother's experiences. Are you unable to handle that? A word of kindness is warm for three winters, while malicious words freeze in the June cold! Aunt Shen, do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself. Why needlessly shift a man's wrongdoing onto a woman? Are you not a woman? Do you not have a mother? Or children?"
After she finished speaking, the crowd's expressions varied, none daring to even breathe a word.
They could hardly believe that this was really Lin Wu.
In the past, Lin Wu was timid and cowardly, and she wouldn't even dare utter a word of disagreement even when people cursed her to her face, calling her a bastard.
But now...
How could she have changed so much?
With that said, Lin Wu turned and walked away.
When she arrived home, the door was locked.
Lin Wu reached out and knocked.
Soon, the door opened.
The person who opened the door was Zhao Cuinong, who was surprised to see Lin Wu, "Xiao Wu, you're back!"
Wasn't Lin Wu supposed to be staying in Qing City?
Lin Wu smiled faintly, "Auntie, this is my home. If not here, where else would I return to?"
Zhao Cuinong responded with a laugh, "Exactly, exactly! Xiao Wu, come on in."
At this point, Zhao Cuinong lowered her voice and continued, "If your mom sees you later, she will be very happy. She hasn't been in a good mood since she came back from Qing City. Remember to give her a good talking-to!"
"Alright," Lin Wu nodded slightly.
Zhao Cuinong was extremely excited to see Lin Wu; she had thought Lin Wu truly no longer acknowledged Lin Guixiang!
Thank goodness.
Thank goodness this child wasn't the ungrateful type!
Lin Wu came to her mother's bedroom and pushed the door open, "Mom."
Upon hearing this, Lin Guixiang thought she was hallucinating.
This...
Her daughter was back?
This was the first time Lin Wu saw the original owner's mother.
Perhaps due to her hardships, the 37-year-old Lin Guixiang was yellow and skinny, looking a decade older than her peers, like a leafless tree in winter, swaying as if she might faint at any moment.
Zhao Cuinong said with a smile, "Big sister, look who's back!"
Lin Guixiang looked up at Lin Wu, surprised and delighted, but mostly confused.
Isn't the daughter repelled by her, intending to stay with the Zhang Family as their precious miss?
Why has she suddenly come back?
Lin Wu saw the confusion in her mother's eyes, knelt on one knee, and directly before Lin Guixiang.
"Mom, I know I was wrong. You gave birth to me and raised me, yet you ended up being deceived by a scumbag, but not only did I fail to stand up for you, I even threw dirty water on you, I'm sorry..."
She was kneeling on behalf of the original host.
If Lin Guixiang really was the other woman, then today's events were her retribution, but now Lin Guixiang was also a victim!
Knowing that her mother was a victim, the original host treated Lin Guixiang this way, truly failing to repay her for the years of upbringing.
Lin Guixiang immediately helped Lin Wu up, "Xiao Wu, get up quickly, good child, it's Mom who let you down!"
If it weren't for her poor judgment of character, how could Lin Wu have lost her father at such a young age!
And she would not have had to face being pointed at and called an illegitimate daughter.
From childhood to adulthood, her daughter had suffered a lot of grievances...
In that moment, mother and child embraced each other tightly.
It was only then that Zhao Cuinong got a clear understanding from Lin Wu's mouth of what had happened back then. She sighed inwardly, feeling that her oldest sister had really not had an easy life, "Big sister, when Qiangzi comes back, our family of five will move to Qing City and have a good life! You can't cry anymore in the future."
Move to Qing City?
Upon hearing this, Lin Guixiang was stunned for a moment.
Qing City was indeed a good place, but her going there would only bring shame to Lin Wu...
Zhao Cuinong continued, "Xiao Wu, go to school tomorrow and talk to the teacher about transferring."
"Okay," Lin Wu nodded slightly.
Going to Qing City was a definite.
She had to teach Lin Guixiang to rise from where she fell.
In the future, Lin Guixiang would surely shine brilliantly, making everyone take notice!
--
The next day was Monday.
Lin Wu went to school.
She sat in the third row by the window, propping her chin with one hand.
The sunlight streamed in from outside the window, illuminating her porcelain white face, causing the male classmates in the room to be dazzled.
This scene was also seen by Ma Jiaojiao standing at the classroom door.
A fleeting strange light flashed in Ma Jiaojiao's eyes.
Lin Wu was too dazzling.
Although just a village girl from a small town, she had a face that drew attention.
Everyone said she was the school beauty.
Humph!
Sooner or later, the school beauty would become a laughingstock.
She now had the help of a powerful benefactor, what was Lin Wu but nothing?
She was only fit to be the stepping stone under her feet.
The next second, Ma Jiaojiao walked up to Lin Wu with a full smile on her face, "Xiao Wu."
Lin Wu slightly turned, her face also filled with a smile, "Jiaojiao."
In the original host's memories, Ma Jiaojiao was her best friend.
But Lin Wu saw through the fake smile on Ma Jiaojiao's face at a glance.
This "best friend" had no good intentions.
Ma Jiaojiao sat next to Lin Wu, lowered her voice, "Xiao Wu, are you doing okay now? Don't worry, you are you, your mom is your mom, I won't tell anyone else about this."
Now, everyone was saying that Lin Guixiang was shameless, the mistress who seduced someone else's husband, so many people didn't want to play with the original host.
But Ma Jiaojiao, instead of looking down on the original host like the others, actually comforted her!
If it were the original host hearing this, wouldn't she be moved to death?
But who is Lin Wu now?
However, since Ma Jiaojiao wanted to act, then Lin Wu would play along with her nicely; she was curious to find out what Ma Jiaojiao was planning.
Lin Wu embraced Ma Jiaojiao, "Thank you, Jiaojiao."
The student in the front turn, Jiang Yue, curious, turned back, "What are you two talking about?"
Jiang Yue was a bit of a scatterbrain and lived far away, so she didn't know about Lin Guixiang's situation.
Ma Jiaojiao wore a mysterious look, "This is a secret between Xiao Wu and me."
Lin Wu nodded slightly, "Jiaojiao is right."
Jiang Yue continued, "Did you hear? Today, some big shot is coming to our school to donate supplies, and I heard they're also giving scholarships to the top ten students in the grade!"
Ma Jiaojiao said, "Yes, I heard it from Director Wang."
Upon hearing this, Lin Wu's eyes narrowed slightly.
Ma Jiaojiao was so familiar with the school director?